If I Was Smarter
by gman2006
Summary: Ayumu is sitting in Yukari's class, thinking about Chiyo. And while she has a crush on Chiyo, Ayumu worries that she may not be smart enough to be with Chiyo-chan. But Chiyo may have the same feelings.


I have reuploaded this story due to problems that were being experienced. So if you got to messages about this story, then that is the reason. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

Well, here's a short little one-shot that I put together. It was an unusual story to write so I hope it turned out okay. And just a little note, the majority of what you hear from the characters will be from their thoughts as there really isn't any communication between them (it's probably why this is such a different story for me). So please let me know what you think (good or bad) in a review and thank you so much for reading.

**If I Was Smarter**

Sitting at her usual seat behind Chiyo-chan, Ayumu watched the girl's pigtails bounce up and down as Chiyo happily worked on an English assignment that Yukari had just handed out. _How do geniuses do it? How do they get so smart? _Ayumu wondered as her own assignment lay blank on her desk. Sneaking a peak over her best friend's shoulder, she noticed that Chiyo had already started the third page and when Ayumu glanced back down at her own paper, she merely glanced at the paragraph of English lettering on the first problem and released a sigh. _I'll never be able to be as good as Chiyo. It's impossible for me. _

As much as Ayumu enjoyed being around Chiyo, she felt rather dumb when in the presence of her best friend. _As expected of Chiyo-chan, she can do anything. _Ayumu thought as she placed her head in her hands and allowed her eyes to wander around the classroom, briefly studying each workbook page that the other students were currently working on. Many were at the bottom of their first page or starting the second. Even Tomo had somehow managed to get to problem five without giving Yomi a migraine.

_I wonder what she would say if I told her now. _Ayumu thought as she considered her feelings for Chiyo. Her realization had occurred only recently but Ayumu saw her friend in a much different light compared to any of her other friends. In fact, Ayumu was happy just to sit behind Chiyo and be able to watch her cute little pigtails bob up and down. It almost seemed as if Ayumu's heart would bounce up and down with the pigtails. But unfortunately, there was nothing Ayumu could do about her feelings. At least, not according to what Tomo and Kagura had said the previous day.

The two bonkuras had been discussing what type of boyfriends all of the girls would have and Ayumu, having nothing better to do during the lunch hour, joined her friends in the discussion. Kagura had obviously wanted a fellow athlete as her boyfriend which came as no surprise to Ayumu, and Tomo seemed more interested in having someone who could be as crazy as she was at any given moment. The discussion eventually turned to the remainder of the girls and when Ayumu brought up the idea of Chiyo having a boyfriend, she became deeply troubled when Kagura had said, "A boyfriend for Chiyo? That guy would have to be at least a doctor or something wouldn't he? I mean, Chiyo's smart now but just think of how smart she'll be after college and everything. How would someone measure up to that? . . ."

Kagura and Tomo had then gotten into a long discussion on the type of superhuman that would need to be created for Chiyo, but Ayumu had stopped listening long before that. She didn't really want to know what kind of person she had to become in order to make Chiyo happy.

_There's no way she'd want to be with me. _Ayumu thought as Kagura's words from the previous day returned to her mind. Glancing down at her assignment once again, Ayumu hoped that maybe something would make sense, but the assignment only seemed to mock her in response.

_Kagura's right. I'm not smart enough to be Chiyo's girlfriend. She's gonna end up as president or something and she's going to change the world . . . _Laying her head down on her desk, Ayumu did the only thing she could to get her mind off of such painful thoughts, sleep. And as she drifted off, Ayumu thought to herself, _maybe . . . if I was smarter, I'd pay attention in class, get better grades . . . and . . ._ Ayumu's thoughts paused as she released a yawn and whispered to herself, " . . . and Chiyo would go out with me . . ." With one final yawn, Ayumu fell into a deep sleep.

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"I wonder what Osaka was thinking about," Chiyo whispered to herself as she finished up Yukari's assignment and placed the workbook towards the end of her desk. Lately, Chiyo had been worrying about her best friend because the girl just hadn't been acting like herself lately. And it's not like Osaka was an easy person to read, so Chiyo wasn't sure what to do. With her other friends, Chiyo could usually guess at what was wrong, which usually turned out to be a test, a competition, or Tomo.

But Osaka was different. She was a world of mystery all by herself. And Osaka seemed to worry about the most peculiar things. Chiyo assumed that that was the reason why her best friend intrigued her so much. Sure Osaka was a rather strange girl and she did occasionally surprise Chiyo with her level of ignorance, but Osaka was also filled with thought provoking questions, creative explanations, and she was quite intelligent. Of course, Chiyo had never explored these opinions about her friend with the others because she knew how skeptical the reaction would be to such words. _And she's upset about something, I know it. _Chiyo could tell just how tense Osaka was when she had peeked over Chiyo's shoulder. Turning around, Chiyo thought that maybe she'd just ask Osaka about the problem, but found the girl soundly asleep; with a blank workbook packet as a pillow.

And for a second, Chiyo couldn't pull her eyes from the sight of her best friend sleeping. Embarrassed at the sudden thought, Chiyo couldn't help but realize just how cute Osaka looked with her eyes closed and her chest slowly rising and falling at a steady beat. In that moment, Chiyo had the unexpected urge to hold her sleeping best friend.

Embarrassed by the idea of such behavior, Chiyo turned back to face the front and pulled out a notebook that she used for occasional doodling. Letting her hand do the drawing, Chiyo attempted to think of how she could help Osaka with whatever was bothering her. _Something is always on her mind. And she's always worrying about everyone. I just wish people would pay more attention to Osaka. _Chiyo thought as she lazily gazed down at her drawings. Her cheeks suddenly turned red as Chiyo hurriedly covered up sketches of her and Osaka-san holding hands and hugging.

_I'm not that crazy about Osaka-san, am I? _Chiyo thought as she hurriedly pressed the notebook tightly against her chest and prayed that no one had seen her drawings. ". . . I-I like Osaka-san, but . . . I'm not in love with her," Chiyo whispered to herself as she dared a glance at the sleeping girl behind her. _I-I wouldn't be the girl for her anyways. I'm . . . I'm just book smart for one thing. _Carefully pulling the notebook away from her body, Chiyo chanced a glance at the drawings and felt her cheeks warm up. Suddenly, she didn't think it would be such a bad idea, and kind of wished she could hold Osaka in her arms; especially if it was to comfort the girl. And for a split second, Chiyo wondered what it would be like to go out with Osaka and hear about all the interesting things that she must know. But, bringing herself down to reality, Chiyo thought, _Osaka-san wouldn't end up with someone like me. She'll probably become famous for coming up with theories and ideas on things that no one has ever thought of before. I can't think "outside the box" like she can. _

Not wanting to depress herself even more, Chiyo closed the notebook and placed it back into her book bag. "There's no way I'd be able to keep up with Osaka anyways. After all, book smarts only gets you so far in life." Chiyo sighed as she recalled Yukari's grim words about education. _"Once you're out of school, this stuff is pretty useless. If you want to learn something about life, go get some words of wisdom from your grandma." _To her, it didn't sound like Yukari had much faith in what she was teaching, but the more Chiyo thought about it; the more Yukari seemed to make sense.

A stir at the front of the room distracted Chiyo and glancing ahead, she found Yukari handing back their latest English test. Politely accepting her paper from the teacher, Chiyo skimmed over the 97%, and placed the test face down on her desk. Somehow, the "A" didn't seem quite so important anymore. Slumping her head into her arms, Chiyo's mind returned to her drawings and she thought to herself: _if only I was smarter, then maybe I could hold Osaka . . ._

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Releasing a small yawn, Ayumu lifted her head off her desk just in time to see Yukari walk by, handing back tests. Curious as to Chiyo's score, Ayumu tried to peek over but couldn't manage to notice any sign of a test on Chiyo's desk. _She probably aced it anyways. She is a genius after all._ Ayumu tried to recall the questions from the test but she couldn't really remember anything about it, except that Yukari had wanted them to write their names in English. So Ayumu had spent countless hours just trying to remember the letters for her name, but she was sure that she had failed the rest of it.

However, when Yukari stopped at Ayumu's desk, she eyed the girl for a couple of seconds before handing Ayumu her test. "Nice job. You really impressed me on this test."

Staring confusingly at Yukari, Ayumu took her test from the teacher and gasped when she saw the score. "A seventy-six percent! Sugoi," Ayumu whispered, as she studied the paper, looking over the questions and the answers. _This has to be my highest score in . . . in anything. _Briefly glancing up from her test, Ayumu noticed Chiyo and an idea suddenly occurred. _If I can keep raising my grades like this . . . then maybe . . . maybe I'll become smart enough to ask Chiyo out. _Feeling her heart beating rapidly, Ayumu quickly tried to remember her exact methods of studying for this test. She wanted to be able to replicate the score as much as possible.

"Yukari-sensei," Came a student's voice from nearby, interrupting Ayumu's thoughts.

"What is it?"

"Um, I think you gave me Osaka-san's paper by mistake."

"Really," Yukari asked and walked over to the student to inspect the paper.

Quickly looking back at her paper, Ayumu prayed that this was hers. But upon closer inspection of her name, she realized that the test belonged to a classmate named, Ayumi. Hearing Yukari's footsteps draw closer, Ayumu reluctantly gave up the test and accepted her own. Before even looking at the score, she verified that it was indeed her test. And next to her name, was the score of fifty-two percent. Sighing, Ayumu glanced over to Chiyo and then back at her test. _Gomen Chiyo-chan. I'm not smart enough to be your girlfriend yet. _And laying her head back onto the desk in disappointment, Ayumu closed her eyes, and allowed herself to fall back into sleep.

**The End**


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